Auction tomorrow....must buy something....help
 

Ok, so I am off to the BCA Auction at Derby tomorrow. I have to buy a car that I can use for approx 1k motorway miles per week.

I have upped my budget to around the 4k mark, so hoping to get something decent.

I have the schedule
I have run through it and had a look at some of the cars that I fancy, checked the price against parkers online. So i have an idea of what is going on.

Looking at the Mondeo/Focus/Passat/Golf Diesel cars.


Any hints and tips for buying at auctions???

You will have to pay an extra cost at the end of the auction, so be aware of this, it should state near the cashiers desk the extra costs, but get there early, and I mean early, have a good look around and mark out what cars your interested in, see what times they are due in the auction room (there will be several rooms so try not to clash your times) and dont go over your bidding price, but on a plus side, you will have a little bit more on top than the dealers will ;)
Books/spare keys are normally collected after you collect the car, but that may have changed since I was at an auction last.
Oh and the only time you will see these running or be able to look inside/under the bonnet is as they go to the auction room! please note :)

Tony:)

you can pay well over the odds at auction when you add all the fees done a bit off dealing in cars over the years and i think bca are dear would be cheaper buying from other scources thats what i found anyway

bigest tip ever dont just stand in the room and bid do your homework outside, watch them start it then they will go start the next one this id your time to jump in do a few checks, all the gears, condition inside, clutch, then rev the tits of it,looking for smoke see if theres any rattles knocks ect and follow it in listening for any clunking ect
your budget is about £3600 + costs

good luck

Its a bit late now but you will need to put down a £1000 deposit to register as a buyer. At the same time you can ask for info about any cars that you are interested in.

I find the VWFS mage sale's have better cars than the normal auctions.

I went 2 weeks to one, I was interested in a TT and the women behind the kiosk told me if the TT was a good one it will go for £9350.

It went for £11400 :eek:

Just back and no car :(

I had done my research, checked Parkers, picked a number of vehicles that I was interested in. Didn't even mak a bid. Everything was way overpriced.

This is doing my head in, I though loads of cars would be in or around budget, but my only real choice was a horrible Saab with 121k miles or a focus C-Max with 106k miles. Even the Vectra with 110k miles was out of my budget :eek:

Might have to spend a bit more, sacrifice my need for an additional fun car.

Looks like I might get a pretty bit contract extension and travelling expenses paid, if this happens I might start looking at some decent spec petrol cars and bump my budget up to 10-15k.

ho hum.....

I went to a car auction on Tuesday and I'm amazed how much the fess are these days:eek:

mate bought a 3-4 yr old mondeo- high spec- from ford dealer- warrenty, tax etc.

about 30k on the clock.

£4 grand. even gave him £750 part ex for his alfa, which he said if he got £50 he'd be happy. usual alfa pile of poo, electrics, gearbox etc etc.

Surely the classifieds are a better option. just had a quick scan of cars at or just above your budget.

PRECIOUS METALS OF STAFFORDSHIRE : 2005 MONDEO TDCI DIESEL "6-SPEED"

carbridge trade centre : FORD MONDEO 2.0 TDCI LIMITED EDITION GRAPHITE

AutoTrade Direct : FORD Mondeo 2.0TDCi LX

Seek out a private sale from a 'motivated' seller who HAS to sell his/her car and therefore is easier to knock down in price. On AutoTrader.co.uk, use the keyword box and type in words like emigrating, redundancy etc. Somebody else's change in fortunes could be your good fortune.

Last car I bought from an auction was a 2ltr GLS Omega on a P plate (4 years back) with 112k on the clock, fsh, brand new vauxhall discs/pads, 4 brand new Dunlop sport tyres, found out it needed a torque converter (plus had the gearbox oil changed at the same time, £300 all in ;)) now guess how much I paid for the car ;)

Tony:D

^^^^^^^^^^

£40...

£90..scrap money ^^^^

340 quid actually ;) not bad for a comfy barge, the tyres were more than that :lol1:
Cost me about 700 in total with an oil change etc, sold her for 1200 after doing a few miles in her ;)

Tony:)

First one looks good, but 1.5k above what I wanted to spend.
Already phoned up about the 2nd one, but no Cruise control.

Still looking at all possibilities, Pistonheads, Autotrader etc....but generally starting to think about spending a bit more money and getting something that is all together better.